Chance Riggins

Profile picture for Chance Riggins

Contact Information

Dept. of Crop Sciences
260 ERML, 1201 W. Gregory
(217) 300-0563
cwriggin@illinois.edu
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Research Assistant Professor, Department of Crop Sciences

Biography

Dr. Riggins is a passionate advocate for addressing plant blindness in society and raising awareness of where our botanical products come from and why it matters. His research involves wild, weedy, and cultivated plants and advances understanding of adaptive evolution in natural and agricultural environments. Another intersecting theme in the Riggins Lab is exploring plant uses and applications of plant natural products. Dr. Riggins also serves as Curator of the Crop Evolution Lab Herbarium, which documents agricultural biodiversity, crop-wild relative genetic diversity, and allied biocultural knowledge.

Research Interests

  • Adaptive evolution of agricultural weeds; Amaranthus species
  • Crop-wild relative diversity and utilization
  • Industrial Hemp
  • Plant Systematics
  • Economic Botany and Ethnobotany
  • Evolution and bioactivity of plant secondary compounds
  • Biological and Biocultural Curation

 

Education

  • Ph.D.: Plant Systematics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - 2008
  • M.S.: Phytochemistry, University of Alaska Fairbanks - 2001
  • B.S.: Forestry/Wildlife Management, Stephen F. Austin State University - 1995

 

Awards and Honors

  • Outstanding Paper Published in Weed Science, WSSA Annual Meeting - 2012
  • John R. Laughnan Award, Dept. of Plant Biology, UIUC - 2006
  • Herbert H. Ross Memorial Award, Illinois Natural History Survey - 2003
  • American Institute of Chemists Graduate Student Award, Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks - 2001

 

Additional Campus Affiliations

  • Research Assistant Professor, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois (2014 - present)
  • Curator, Crop Evolution Laboratory (CEL) Herbarium, University of Illinois (2014 - present)
  • Faculty Affiliate, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, University of Illinois (2016-present)
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois (2009-2013)

 

 

Highlighted Publications

BOOKS EDITED OR CO-EDITED (ORIGINAL EDITIONS)

  • Eskinazi, D., Blumenthal, M., Farnsworth, N., and C. W. Riggins (eds). 1999. Botanical Medicine: Efficacy, Quality Assurance and Regulation. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Publ., NY.
  • Blumenthal, M., Grunwald, J., Hall, T., Riggins, C. W., and R. S. Rister (eds); Klein, S., Rister, R. S. (Trans.). 1997. German Commission E Monographs: Therapeutic Monographs of Medicinal Plants for Human Use. Austin, TX: American Botanical Council.
  • Blumenthal, M. and C. W. Riggins. 1997. Popular Herbs in the U.S. Market: Therapeutic Monographs. Austin, TX: American Botanical Council.

SELECTED ARTICLES IN JOURNALS

  • Leebens-Mack, J.H., Barker, M.S., Carpenter, E.J. et al. 2019. One thousand plant transcriptomes and the phylogenomics of green plants. Nature 574, 679-685. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1693-2
  • Sun, R., Zhang, P., Riggins, C. W., Zabaloy, M. C., Rodriguez-Zas, S. and M. B. Villamil. 2019. Long-term N fertilization decreased diversity and altered the composition of soil bacterial and archaeal communities. Agronomy 9(10):574.
  • Huang, L., Riggins, C. W., Rodriguez-Zas, S., Zabaloy, M. C., and M. B. Villamil. 2019. Long-term N fertilization imbalances potential N acquisition and transformations by soil microbes. Sci. Total Environ. 691:562-571.
  • Miller, J. T., Terra, V., Riggins, C. W., Ebinger, J. E., and D. S. Seigler. 2017. Molecular phylogenetics of Parasenegalia and Pseudosenegalia (Fabaceae:  Mimosoideae). Systematic Botany 42(3):465-469.
  • Evans Jr., A. F., O'Brien, S. R., Ma, R., Hager, A. G., Riggins, C. W., Lamber, K. N. and D. E. Riechers. 2017. Biochemical characterization of metabolism-based atrazine resistance in Amaranthus tuberculatus and identification of an expressed GST associated with resistance. Plant Biotech. Journal 15:1238-1249.
  • Seigler, D. S., Ebinger, J. E., Riggins, C. W., Terra, V. and J. T. Miller. 2017. Parasenegalia and Pseudosenegalia (Fabaceae: Mimosoideae): New genera of the Mimosoideae. Novon 25(2):180-205.
  • Crespo, R. J., Wingeyer, A. B., Kruger, G. R., Riggins, C. W., Tranel, P. J., and M. L. Bernards. 2017. Multiple-herbicide resistance in a 2,4-D-resistant waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus) population from Nebraska. Weed Sci. 65(6):743-754.
  • Huffman, J. L., Riggins, C. W., Steckel, L. E. and P. J. Tranel. 2015. The EPSPS Pro106Ser substitution solely accounts for glyphosate resistance in a goosegrass (Eleusine indica) population from Tennessee, United States. J. Integr. Ag. 15:1304-1312.
  • Schultz, J. L., Chatham, L. A., Riggins, C. W., Tranel, P. J. and K. W. Bradley. 2015. Distribution of herbicide resistances and molecular mechanisms conferring resistance in Missouri waterhemp (Amaranthus rudis Sauer) populations. Weed Sci. 63:336-345.
  • Guo, J., Riggins, C. W., Hausman, N. E., Hager, A. G., Riechers, D. E., Davis, A. S., and P. J. Tranel. 2015. Non-target-site resistance to ALS inhibitors in waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus). Weed Sci. 63:399-407.
  • Chatham, L. A., Wu, C., Riggins, C. W., Hager, A. G., Young, B. G., Roskamp, G. K. and P. J. Tranel. 2015. EPSPS gene amplification is present in the majority of glyphosate-resistant Illinois waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus) populations. Weed Tech. 29:48-55.
  • Délye, C., Duhoux, A., Pernin, F., Riggins, C. W., and P. J. Tranel. 2015. Research methods in weed science: molecular mechanisms of herbicide resistance. Weed Sci. 63(sp1):91-115.
  • Ma, R., Kaundun, S. S., Tranel, P. J., Riggins, C. W., McGinness, D. L., Hager, A. G., Hawkes, T., McIndoe, E., and D. E. Riechers. 2013. Distinct detoxification mechanisms confer resistance to mesotrione and atrazine in a population of waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus). Plant Physiol. 163:363-377.
  • Gaines, T. A., Wright, A. A., Molin, W. T., Lorentz, L., Riggins, C. W., Tranel, P. J., Beffa, R., Westra, P., and S. B. Powles. 2013. Identification of genetic elements associated with EPSPS gene amplification. PLoS ONE 8(6):e65819. doi:10.1371.
  • Riggins, C. W. 2012. Artemisia woodii (Asteraceae), a new rank for a narrow endemic of the Yukon Territory, Canada. Phytologia 94:301-304.
  • Riggins, C. W. and D. S. Seigler. 2012. The genus Artemisia L. (Asteraceae: Anthemideae) at a continental crossroads: molecular insights into migrations, disjunctions, and reticulations among Old and New World species from a Beringian perspective. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 64:471-490.
  • Riggins, C. W. and P. J. Tranel. 2012. Will the Amaranthus tuberculatus resistance mechanism to PPO-inhibiting herbicides evolve in other Amaranthus species? Int. J. Agron. doi:10.1155/2012/305764.
  • Thinglum, K. A., Riggins, C. W., Davis, A. S., Bradley, K. W., Al-Khatib, K., and P. J. Tranel. 2011. Wide distribution of the waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus) deltaG210 PPX2 mutation, which confers resistance to PPO-inhibiting herbicides. Weed Sci. 59:22-27.
  • Tranel, P. J., Riggins, C. W., Bell, M. S., and A. G. Hager. 2011. Herbicide resistances in Amaranthus tuberculatus: A call for new options. J. Agric. Food Chem. 59:5808-5812.
  • Riggins, C. W., Peng, Y., Stewart Jr, C. N., and P. J. Tranel. 2010. Characterization of de novo transcriptome for waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus) using GS-FLX 454 pyrosequencing and its application for studies of herbicide target-site genes. Pest Manag. Sci. 66:1042-1052. [see associated Commentary (66:1041)].
  • Peng, Y., Abercrombie, L. L. G., Yuan, J. S., Riggins, C. W., Sammons, R. D., Tranel, P. J., and C. N. Stewart Jr. 2010. Characterization of the horseweed (Conyza canadensis) transcriptome using GS-FLX 454 pyrosequencing and its application to enable expression analysis of candidate nontarget herbicide resistance genes. Pest Manag. Sci. 66:1053-1062.
  • Riggins, C. W. and T. P. Clausen. 2003. Root acetylenes from Artemisia arctica. Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 31:211-214.